NOVEL NEXT The Relentless Duel
In his fierce sparring against his elder sister, Violet, Xavier had an extremely hard time keeping up with Violet's movements. As she was just too quick for his eyes to even see her move between places, because of how fast she moved.
Xavier swung Excalibur at Violet, but she quickly leaped over it, now standing on top of Xavier's blade like a light feather.
"Your movements are too predictable, Xavier", Violet remarked with a sneer. "You won't be able to land a hit on me if that continues".
Knowing that everything she said was undoubtedly true, Xavier didn't weaver and persisted with his attacks.
Launching a furry of slices at Violet, who easily evaded all of them with a calm smile on her face, Xavier threw a sword thrust at Violet. Who yet again, swiftly dodged it, but it was exactly what Xavier wanted Violet to do.
Xavier swiftly kicked Violet's left leg, causing her to lose balance and begin to fall. However, she quickly caught herself, performing a handstand on one arm to regain stability.
Not missing a beat, Xavier followed up with a knee strike aimed at her gut. But once again, Violet blocked the attack with her free arm, though she felt a sting of pain. With a sneer, she said, "Nice try, little brother. You'll have to do better than that to land a blow on me."
Violet then immediately tossed Xavier away with great force, and not sparing a second, got back on her feet, and launched Mighty Lancelot at Xavier at lightning speeds, creating a whirlwind around the lance as it spun towards Xavier's direction.
Xavier swiftly activated his vector barrier, though a weaker version which is unable to reflect any attacks but can only be used as a defensive mechanism, to block Lancelot from reaching him.
"Why on earth is it this weapon?" Xavier groaned, struggling to maintain his barrier against the overwhelming force of Violet's ethereal instrument, Lancelot.
Below him, Violet prepared to leap into action, but Alcmena quickly warned Xavier of her intentions. Heeding Alcmena’s warning, Xavier immediately deactivated his vector barrier and teleported beside Violet, ready to strike her down with a swift swing of Excalibur.
Violet narrowly dodged the surprise attack, but the blade sliced off a lock of her hair in the process.
"That was close", Violet said to herself in relief at dodging Xavier's sudden attack.
Violet immediately punched Xavier in the gut, followed by a quick kick to his face to create distance. Yet, Xavier remained unfazed, closing the gap between them with relentless determination.
He swung a vertical strike at Violet, but she dodged effortlessly, vanishing from sight only to reappear in front of him. Grabbing his sword arm, she twisted it with such force that he was instantly disarmed.
With a swift kick to the back of his right leg, she forced him down onto one knee and landed a punch squarely in his face. Xavier threw a sloppy counterattack, which Violet easily dodged, retaliating with a backhanded slap that sent him reeling.
Xavier threw another counterattack which Violet questioned on why he would do so even though it didn't work before, but Violet swiftly dodged it yet again.
As Violet dodged the attack, she was suddenly struck by an invisible force that slammed into her face, sending her stumbling backward with great force.
The force was Xavier’s vector shield, which he had activated and expanded in less than a second. The powerful blow was caused by the shield's rapid outward expansion, creating an explosive force as space struggled to keep up.
"What was that?" Violet gasped, visibly surprised.
"I finally landed a hit," Xavier remarked, pointing to the bruise forming on her cheek where the shield had struck. "Now that should prove that I've grown a lot stronger, wouldn't you say?".
Violet smirked and answered, "Just landing one hit doesn't mean that the sparring is over, brother".
"Oh I know", Xavier replied.
As Xavier summoned Excalibur into his hands, a sudden nosebleed caught him off guard. Confused at first, he quickly realized that his body was being overwhelmed by the immense energy surging from the sword.
His body trembled uncontrollably, unable to handle the excessive ethereal energy flooding through him. Without hesitation, Xavier sheathed Excalibur back into its elegant, white sheath, trying to regain control before the power consumed him entirely.
"I forgot about how restraining using Excalibur can be", Xavier thought to himself. "It overflows my body with its divine energy constantly, and that's a bit burdening".
Noticing that Xavier had sheathed back his sword, Violet taunted, "What's wrong Xavier? Don't tell me you're giving up now?".
To which Xavier responded, "Not in a million years!".
Knowing that Excalibur was still as deadly when it was even sheathed, Xavier readied himself before he could continue his sparring with his sister. Violet called upon her lance, Mightly Lancelot once more, and readied herself as well.
As the room fell silent once more, they both immediately charged at each other at full speed. But as their weapons clashed, Xavier immediately activated his Aura, and in that moment, instantly used his Vector Nova attack point blank, destroying their surroundings, as their clash began even more fierce.
Xavier rotated Excalibur so rapidly that it appeared to move in slow motion, leaving behind afterimages in its wake. In a single, fluid motion, he launched a powerful thrust at Violet, amplifying the strike with his Vector Nova attack for maximum impact.
Unfortunately for Xavier, before it could reach Violet, she immediately conjured her shield, Achilles, that successfully nullified the attack's damage on Violet, except for their surroundings, as the floor beneath them cracked and crumbled.
Xavier threw multiple more attacks but they didn't work, so Alcmena immediately informed him that it would be futile to continue to strike at Violet's shield. As he had observed that it can absorb the attacks of the opponents' attacks, and nullify the attack completely.
"What am I supposed to do then!", Xavier complained telepathically to Alcmena.
Who answered, "Listen, kid, I'm going to tell you something and you're going to keep it in that thick skull of yours".
"Just because her shield can absorb the kinetic energy from your attacks, doesn't mean it's impossible to get past it".
"What are you getting at?", Xavier questioned confused, still in his battle against Violet.
"What I'm trying to say, is that it's a shield at the end of the day". Alcmena replied. "And all shields have one flaw, they are unable to completely protect their wielder's entire body, leaving room for surprise attacks".
Realizing the point Alcmena was trying to make, Xavier smiled and thanked Alcmena for his help, with a fire burning in his eyes.
Alcmena merely sighed at Xavier's confidence in thinking he could win against his sister in a battle, even if it was a sparring match.
Now, during his sparing against Violet, Xavier teleported away to give himself some distance, as he did, he used his Regokinesis Blade technique on Excalibur, and launched a furry of deadly slashes at Violet, as he yelled, "Multi-directional Echo".
Violet was able to block the appending slashes with the help of her shield, Achilles, which absorbed them in contact. But a single was able to get past the shield's defense and slash Violet on the shoulder.
"Oh my!", Violet said in surprise.
Xavier instantly teleported in front of Violet, catching her off guard as she momentarily lowered her defenses. He quickly enveloped his hand in a dense layer of his vector shield, forming a protective coating like a second skin. This allowed him to grab Lancelot, which was spinning at a rapid speed, distorting the space and air around it, without suffering serious injury. With a powerful motion, he prepared to toss the weapon aside.
After disarming Violet, Xavier swiftly aimed a kick at her gut. However, Violet easily blocked the strike with the Shield of Achilles. Undeterred, Xavier pointed his finger at her, instantly blasting her backward by activating and rapidly expanding his vector shield.
Xavier didn't stop there and immediately dashed at Violet, preparing to win right here, right now. Slowly activating RealmHeart: Stage One, but not completely to where his physical appearance didn't change that much.
With a blue aura enveloping his entire body, Xavier combined his Regokinesis Blade technique with the Vector Nova technique, creating something entirely new—Stasis Oblivion, a power he had yet to master.
Excalibur vibrates with intense energy, glowing with a dark chaotic blue as the Regokinesis and vector forces intertwine. A distortion field forms around the blade, warping the light and air around the blade.
As Xavier yelled at the top of his lungs, ready to deliver the final blow, Violet stood there smiling proudly at how far Xavier had come, and how strong he had now gotten. Making her feel that she didn't need to constantly worry about his safety, as he was becoming strong enough to protect himself from strong assassins of foes.
Extending her hand, Violet calmly uttered, "Divine Banishment." In an instant, chains materialized around Xavier, locking him in place with a key that sealed itself with a final click. His Stasis Oblivion was dispelled in an instant, and the power drained from his body, stripping him out of his RealmHeart form.
"That was an amazing sparring session, little brother," Violet said, effortlessly stopping Excalibur with one hand. "But there’s something I noticed—you were using that sword like any other ordinary blade."
She glanced at Excalibur. "To truly wield it, you’ll need to develop a style that matches its unique power. Only then will you unlock its full potential."
With a swift chop to the back of Xavier's neck, Violet knocked him out cold. Leaning in with a proud smile, she whispered, "You did great, Xavier. I'm proud of you."
At that moment, Anastasia walked into the training grounds carrying a tray of snacks and tea for Xavier and Alcmena but was utterly stunned to see the complete chaos of a mess Xavier and Violet had caused.
"Oh, what's up, Miss Anastasia!", Violet greeted cheerfully noticing Anastasia.
Anastasia bowed her head and greeted Violet back, still awe-struck by the state of the training ground.
Violet then closed her eyes and began to focus an abundance of holy energy onto Xavier's body, to heal him from any injuries and pain. As she did, a bright silhouette of a woman that seemed to resemble an elve materialized right behind Violet as she healed Xavier.
As Violet finished healing Xavier, she turned to the bright silhouette, who said to her with a smile, "You seem to have improved with your healing capabilities, Violet".
To which Violet responded with a big grin, "Well, I still have some problems using your gifted powers, Master. But I do think that I did improve a lot from when we first met".
The woman giggled and said, "Yet you still act exactly how you were as a kid".
Violet puffed up her cheeks, which were now red like a tomato, and said grumpily "I'm not a kid!".
The woman Violet spoke to was none other than the spirit of Queen Tessia Valandor, one of the legendary monarchs of the elven kingdom. Revered as the Spirit of Immortality, the Immortal Empress of Divine Grace, and the Herrscher of Divine Healing, she was now bound to Violet Ivanovich as her current contractor.
From a distance, Queen Tessia noticed Alcmena watching. She smiled knowingly at him, recognizing his true nature. To her, he was not just a beautiful cat but a god disguised in feline form.
Alcmena returned the smile, aware that she could see beyond his false appearance.
Violet, meanwhile, realized that the wounds inflicted by Excalibur were taking much longer to heal, even with her master’s abilities. Determined, she channeled more divine energy to accelerate the healing process.
"What kind of sword is that?" Violet wondered aloud, her tone filled with awe as she fully healed herself. "To cause such damage, to where I have to use more energy than I've used before to fully heal... where did Xavier find such a weapon?"
Violet shook off her lingering doubts, pushing aside the questions that had no answers. Without hesitation, she picked up Alcmena, hugging him tightly. She then ordered Anastasia to safely carry Xavier back to his room.